Crime Stoppers USA Past Chair Scott Abrams joined Constable Scott Mills of Toronto Police Service & Crime Stoppers live on a Hangout On Air May 27 at a Parent Engagement Evening at Akwesasne near Cornwall.

RCMP Officer Cynthia Lord has been policing the Akwesasne area for twenty years, and is one of those police officers who genuinely cares and knows her community well. Cynthia, in collaboration with Lisa Francis-Benedict of the Akwesasne Mohawk Board of Education (AMBE) arranged a two day “Social Media For Success & Safety” awareness and education campaign in the area May 27 & 28, 2013. I was honoured to travel by Via Rail train to Cornwall and Akwesasne area from Toronto to speak with community members-specifically students and parents about using social media for success and safety in my capacity as a Toronto Police Service Social Media Officer and Adviser to Crime Stoppers programs on social media. This is the second time in five years doing this trip, and I can honestly say it is one of the experiences I cherish most in my career. Why you ask? The people of Akwesasne are amazing!

Cornwall Collegiate & Vocational School students indicate they predominantly engage on Facebook for social media use at May 27, 2013 Social Media For Success And Safety Talk By Constable Scott Mills

Facebook and Twitter is where the majority of 300 grade 9 and 10 students at Cornwall Collegiate & Vocational School indicated they spent time on social media. The presentations were all live streamed using Google Plus Hangouts On Air. To get a feel of where the students are as questions are asked of them what social media sites they use, please watch the archived video here that includes a live demo of a troubleshooting of a students’ facebook profile:

The RCMP are promoting a great website for youth success and safety. Click here to view the entire website. Below are a few screen grabs from the site that allows you to see some great content that can be engaged with youth. Thanks to RCMP O Division Social Media Specialist Jean Turner Floyd for sharing this.

Aboriginal Awareness is promoted in a new RCMP Youth Resource Centre website. Click for details> bit.ly/AboriginalAwarenessRCMP

The evening parent session was a quick drive to New York State, then back into Quebec on the Canadian side, before turning in for the night back in Cornwall. For those not familiar with the area, in a matter of minutes in a vehicle in this area you can find yourself in 2 countries – Canada and the USA, as well as 1 state, New York State, 2 Canadian provinces, Ontario and Quebec, and have 13 Tribal Councils. This is a unique area steeped in traditions, rich in culture, and you better have a good tour guide who is trusted by the people! Cynthia Lord is that person! What a welcome!

We were fortunate to have Scott Abrams, the past chair of Crime Stoppers USA join us via Google Plus Hangout On Air for this session to show the value of community operated Crime Stoppers programs in partnership with local police and local media. The Facebook Leave A Tip tab for Crime Stoppers was explained in detail later in the evening to the attendees. This Leave A Tip tab can be installed on any facebook page free of charge by sending an e-mail to Scott Mills (ScotMills@Gmail.com)

The first 28min of the evening presentation was live streamed to Youtube. Disregard what sounds like gunshots! It was actually a friendly game of lacrosse happening outside of the gymnasium!

Special thank you to Ian Oakes, Reporter from Indian Time for attending and reporting on the parent engagement evening.

The key message presentation from the parent evening is attached here for reference:

In closing, thanks for the hospitality everyone! The below document is a collection of privacy settings on facebook marked with a ‘crayon’ in hopes that it will make finding the settings a little easier. A number of people update the document as new information becomes available and settings change. Feel free to sit down with your facebook and follow the steps to understanding privacy settings. Good luck with community success and safety!